Tonight at 9PM ET, we will be talking with Dan Kesterson at Antelope Ridge Mead in Colorado Springs, CO.
Dan is the father of 2 boys, and he is an Army Veteran, Mechanical engineer, and the mead-maker at Antelope Ridge Mead. He started making mead when he received 30 lbs of local honey from hives on his Father-in-law's ranch in South Dakota. He immediately switched his focus from brewing beer to making mead after his first batch was a success. In 2019 they started planning to open a meadery where they live in Colorado Springs.

Antelope Ridge Mead focuses on pyments, whole-fruit fermentation, and session meads. They pride themselves on high fruiting rates and strive for balance and drinkability in each mead - using only natural ingredients. Their most popular mead is their PB&J Grape session mead, which has already earned two medals (Orpheus and Mazer) in their first year in business.
Dan has racked up some impressive wins with his meads:

Gold Medal - Candy Crush - Pyment -2021 Orpheus Cup International
Gold Medal - Conflux: PB&J Grape - Session Mead - 2021 Orpheus Cup International
Bronze Medal - Direct Current - Melomel - 2021 Orpheus Cup International
Gold Medal - CC Crush - Pyment - 2021 Mazer Cup International
Silver Medal - Conflux: PB&J Grape - 2021 Mazer Cup International
BEST OF SHOW MEAD - Sangria Azteca - Fruit Mead - 2022 Colorado State Fair Commercial Wine Competition
Bronze Medal - Solstice - Spiced Mead - 2022 Colorado State Fair Commercial Wine Competition
Gold Medal - And Then He Served Us Blueberry Pancakes - Anything Goes - 2022 Orpheus Cup International
Silver Medal - Sangria Azteca - Specialty Mead - 2022 Orpheus Cup International
Silver Medal - Winter Cranberry - Fruit and Spice Mead - 2022 Orpheus Cup International
Bronze Medal - Conflux: PB&J Grape - Sweet Session Mead - 2022 Orpheus Cup International
Bronze Medal - Solstice - Fruit and Spice Mead - 2022 Orpheus Cup International

Come on and listen and hang out with us as we talk mead and explore what Dan's up to, and maybe find out how he's kicking medal butt with his meads!

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Sponsor:

Honnibrook Craft Meadery. Rated the very best winery in Colorado! Visit our state-of-the-art meadery and tasting room south of downtown Castle Rock, Colorado, in a converted man cave. Mention the Got Mead Podcast this month for a free draft taster!  Google H-O-N-N-I Brook for hours and directions. They love visitors!  www.honnibrook.com



If you want to ask your mead making questions, you can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323) or send us a question via email, or via Twitter @GotmeadNow and we'll tackle it online! 9PM EDT/6PM PDT Join us on live chat during the show Bring your questions and your mead, and let's talk mead! You can call us at 803-443-MEAD (6323), or Skype us at meadwench (please friend me first and say you're a listener, I get tons of Skype spam), or tweet to @gotmeadnow.



Upcoming Shows
Show links and notes

Let There Be Melomels by Rob Ratliff
The Big Book of Mead Recipes by Rob Ratliff
Let There Be Session Meads by Rob Ratliff

Upcoming Events

Aug 13 - 14th Annual Mead Night - Temecula, CA - home and commercial mead sharing, backyard fire and a honey tasting. Bring bottles to share!
Aug 13 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - Fairy Hair for Everyone
Aug 19 - Bragging Rooster Mead, Warrenton, NC - Dog adoption event
Aug 22-23 - American Mead Makers Association - MeadCon 2022 in Baltimore, MD - tickets on sale now!
Aug 27 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - A Visit with CLAWS - bird rescue
Sept 4 - Starrlight Meadery, Pittsboro, NC - First Sunday Sound Bath
Sept 9-10 - Valkyries Horn Mead Competition, Minneapolis,